Bastard of a story: Court orders 'Fat Aussie Barstard' to hand in auction funds



Peter Michael Finn aka "Fat Aussie Barstard".

A Queensland man who auctioned a tooth he had pulled, supposedly to raise money for a children's hospital, has been ordered to hand the funds over after a court found no evidence the proceeds went to the hospital.

Peter Michael Finn, who describes himself as a "Fat Aussie Barstard (sic)" on his YouTube channel, launched the online auction in June last year and raised $6543, which he claimed was for the Brisbane Royal Children's Hospital.

Finn faced Noosa Magistrates Court yesterday where the court heard he did not apply to the Office of Fair Trading to request permission to make a public appeal and none of the funds reached the hospital, the Brisbane Times reports.

Finn told the court he estimated that the cost of running the auction was between $4000 and $5000, including "100 hours of my time, answering comments, editing videos, shooting videos, liaising with the bidders”.

After the expenses, Finn said he was left with about $1500 and handed out the money to homeless people in the Fortitude Valley.

He said he didn't film or make a note of the donations to respect the privacy of those he helped.

He pleaded guilty to unlawfully appealing for support and converting the money for own use/failing to properly account for it.

He was ordered to undertake 200 hours of community service, pay the $6543 he raised to Brisbane Children's Hospital and received a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Finn has urged potential fund raisers to stick to the letter of the law.

www.NineMSN.com.au

19.7.12

UK forces truth in travel advertising as ACCC does nothing



UK consumers benfit from Fair Trading ruling
as Australia's ACCC does nothing for the
people of Australia.

Following Office of Fair Trading enforcement action, 12 airlines operating in the UK have agreed to include debit card surcharges in the headline price of tickets.

The move is designed to end surprise increases in price at the end of the booking process common online when booking with many carriers.

Any surcharges for paying by credit card will also be easy to find when booking online, the OFT said.

Aer Lingus, BMI Baby, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Flybe, German Wings, Jet2, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Thomas Cook, Thomson (TUI) and Wizz Air were subject to an OFT consumer law investigation and have agreed to change their practices.

The OFT believes people should not have to incur surcharges to use a debit card online.

Debit cards are the online equivalent of cash which means that headline prices should be the price people can pay.

The OFT believes traders may still impose surcharges for credit cards, which can be more costly to process.

However, it is critical that these charges are transparent and not sprung on shoppers towards the end of the booking process. As part of the OFT’s enforcement action the airlines agreed to make surcharges for credit cards more transparent so that these charges will be clearer and easier to find during the booking process.

Following recommendations from the OFT last year, the Government has also announced plans to bring forward legislation to ban excessive debit and credit card surcharges across the UK economy.

The OFT estimated that debit and credit card surcharging in the airlines sector cost consumers £300 million a year.

All airlines have agreed to change their advertising practices by August 1st and fully complete further changes over the coming months.

Clive Maxwell, the OFT’s Chief Executive, said: “This is a great outcome for the millions of people who buy flights online.

“It is important that the cost presented when they search for a flight is realistic and that they are not surprised by extra charges. Otherwise it is harder for them to shop around for the best deal.”

In June last year, the OFT responded to a super-complaint from Which? and warned the airline industry to change practices or risk enforcement action.

COMMENT: Why doesn't the ACCC follow suit in Australia forcing airlines to disclose all costs, including credit card fees, when they advertise cheap flights.  The ACCC is a toothless tiger which has had 10,000 complaints on petrol prices alone and whose efforts to fix this problem have been scientifically calculated as somewhere between Biuckley's and none!

2.7.12

Fair Trading Warning: Scammers use bank fees as new cover

AUSTRALIANS are being targeted by a new phone scam in which victims are promised refunds from banks that have overcharged them.

NSW Fair Trading Assistant Commissioner Robert Vellar says there has been a spate of bogus calls, mainly during the day, to residents across NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

The callers claim to represent NSW Fair Trading and tell people they are entitled to money from banks.

They then ask for account details so the funds can be returned.

The scam is the latest in a conga-line of criminal hoaxes where people claimed to be from banks or government agencies, he says.

Because the transactions are done over the internet any money lost is almost irretrievable, Mr Vellar said.

"In all likelihood it is very difficult, and really almost impossible to recover people's money because it's gone offshore to Eastern Europe or to Africa," he told AAP on Tuesday.

"With the technology that the internet provides ... (the phone calls) are virtually untraceable.

"Calls are made to look like they come from Sydney but often they are calling from somewhere like the Ukraine."

The scams were almost impossible to police, he said.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Scamwatch, more than 83,000 people reported scams in 2011, costing unsuspecting victims more than $85.6 million.

Almost 52 per cent of scams reported to the ACCC in 2011 were delivered by phone.

www.TheAustralian.com.au

19.7.12

"She'll be apples says Apple but iPhone 5 will be a complete ripoff

Apple has filed a patent to change the connection port on the next version of the iPhone, seemingly confirming rumours users may have to update their peripherals.

APPLE has been granted a patent for what is believed to be a new docking connector for the next version of the iPhone - and consumers are worried.

Apple is believed to be revamping the charging port for the iPhone5, which is expected to be released later this year.

The rumours about Apple users having to replace all their expensive accessories have been in overdrive for weeks.

The patent would seem to confirm the rumours that Apple - which always plays its cards tight to its chest with new designs - is switching its 30-pin dock to 19-pin.

 And that is what concerns Apple users. The new design will mean changing all of your peripherals, such as speaker docks, unless adapters come to market, The Daily Mail reports.

The rumoured proposal has sparked alarm among the company’s followers who fear they will have to buy new equipment to work with the phone.

Docking stations, which play music stored on iPhones and can cost hundreds of dollars, may become redundant as will chargers. The new port looks similar to micro USB, the standard supported by all other phone manufacturers but it's unlikely that Apple will support this standard.

Apple's version has a triangle-shaped wedge at one end, which should stop users plugging in the cable the wrong way round.

The US patent office granted the patent for: "A power adapter for a peripheral device such as portable electronics device.

"The power adapter includes a housing that contains electrical components associated with the power adapter.

"The power adapter also includes a data port provided at a surface of the housing. The data port is configured to provide external power to the peripheral device."
 
Apple advertised for staff to work on the new connector earlier this year. It was seeking an engineer ‘responsible for identifying appropriate connection technology requirements for new products and follow through with selection and development of suitable interconnect products’.

The advertisement added: ‘This will often involve adaptation of existing connectors or complete new designs.’

The new iPhone is expected to have a larger 4-inch screen that will reputedly offer better resolution viewing than a high definition TV.

It will include Apple’s new mapping software, which has sparked privacy fears as it uses aerial photography capable of showing detail just four inches across.

www.CourierMail.com.au

19.7.12

Consumer Ripoff: Chop shop cars - can you spot the difference?

 

The Motor Trade Association of WA has
issued a warning about chop-shop vehicles.

You may not be driving the car you think you are driving.

That is the warning the Motor Trade Association of WA is giving after the discovery of a Toyota Prado in Perth that was not what it appeared to be.

The vehicle had been professionally re-birthed and up-specked.

That means although it was a GX Prado bought at auction in Queensland last year for $25,100 with 323,338 km on its odometer, it was traded to a Perth car yard for $45,000 as a Toyota Prado GXL with an odometer reading of 42,380 kilometres.

The car yard only realised there was something not quite right with the vehicle when it was about to on-sell it.

MTA chief executive Stephen Moir said there could be tens of thousands of similar vehicles across the state.

"They literally take all of the dash of a top line model and put it in the car, but it doesn't necessarily have the airbags or the ABS systems that you would get with the model you think you are buying," he said.

While it means consumers are being ripped off, Mr Moir said it also had huge ramifications in terms of safety.

A forensic examination of the Prado found in Perth in June uncovered dozens of irregularities and alterations.

It found that the vehicle did not have airbags, had been immersed in freshwater which can affect a number of mechanical, electrical and safety features and had corroded a number of bolts.

"This vehicle is the tip of the iceberg; with the illegal car re-birthing industry in Australia estimated to be worth up to $400 million a year," Mr Moir said.

He said last month the illegal chop-shop operations of two families in New South Wales which involved more than 81 cars sold worth more than $1.5 million were uncovered.

Mr Moir said vehicles such as the Toyota Prado, Hilux and Land Cruiser were commonly altered and on-sold because they were in high demand.

"They are in short supply because of the tsunami so when they come on the market they tend to go very quickly," he said.

High-end cars such as Audis, BMWs and Porsches from WA that had been altered were also showing up in the eastern states.

Mr Moir said vehicles were stolen along with the keys to them and transported via car trucks across the country.

"Cars move everyday north, south, east and west, it's not uncommon to see trucks laden with cars coming across so it doesn't seem unusual," he said.

"Then they are often delivered to genuine looking automotive businesses at the other end."

Mr Moir said the reason the problem was so bad and was not being picked up in WA was the lack of resources.

After making the police aware of this particular case, the MTA spoke to the WA Police about increasing the resources directed towards the issue.

"We have three officers on the police motor squad covering fraud," he said.

"There are over two million vehicles in the state."

He said anyone looking to buy a second hand vehicle should check whether the vehicle they were buying had been a declarable write off and whether there was any finance owing on the vehicle.

Mr Moir said this information could be found at www.ppsr.gov.au.

He also suggested they get an authorised mechanic to look over the vehicle but he warned that it was difficult even for a trained mechanic to pick up the signs that would alert them to the fact a car was not what it should be.



Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/

18.7.12

Be warned about "We Buy Any Car"

WeBuyAnyCar.com.au

A Current Affair tonight exposed this Company over its dealings with customers in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Late payments, non-payments, unfulfilled promises - you name it, this company delivers on everything but good service.

Consumer Watch says: Be Warned!